A Piagetian programme of intervention: facilitation of conceptual change and cognitive growth
- Authors: Moore, Robert Soulsby
- Date: 1981
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3136 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006905
- Description: This research aims (within a strictly Piagetian framework) toward the development of a programme of intervention which will facilitate cognitive development, conceptual change and scientific literacy for those individuals who experience difficulty in coping with contemporary scientific and technological concepts. The research focuses specifically on the development of a diagnostic battery useful for realising a conceptual profile of the individual. This profile would indicate personal areas of functional interests that can be used creatively as a starting point for the facilitation of cognitive growth. The goal of such a programme is not the acceleration of cognitive growth, but rather the restoration of the individual to the mainstream of transactions in which the process of growth can flourish. The proposed facilitatory programme makes use of Piagetian tasks in a voluntary, individualist mode of instruction comparable to recently developed techniques of scientific education programmes. In brief, this research analyses three specific areas: 1) The development of a body of theory that can assist in the development of such a facilitatory programme, 2) The development of a diagnostic battery to provide insight into the individual's level of conceptual development, 3) The realization of certain guidelines for an instructional procedure whereby facilitation of growth can begin . The experiment takes the form of a pilot study of twenty four black and white subjects, exploring whether the battery of Piagetian tasks reveals a profile of conceptual development of the individual. Unique conceptual profiles were realized for all individuals, with evidence pointing towards the existence of a relationship between functional interests and the more advanced areas of the individual's conceptual development.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1981
- Authors: Moore, Robert Soulsby
- Date: 1981
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3136 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006905
- Description: This research aims (within a strictly Piagetian framework) toward the development of a programme of intervention which will facilitate cognitive development, conceptual change and scientific literacy for those individuals who experience difficulty in coping with contemporary scientific and technological concepts. The research focuses specifically on the development of a diagnostic battery useful for realising a conceptual profile of the individual. This profile would indicate personal areas of functional interests that can be used creatively as a starting point for the facilitation of cognitive growth. The goal of such a programme is not the acceleration of cognitive growth, but rather the restoration of the individual to the mainstream of transactions in which the process of growth can flourish. The proposed facilitatory programme makes use of Piagetian tasks in a voluntary, individualist mode of instruction comparable to recently developed techniques of scientific education programmes. In brief, this research analyses three specific areas: 1) The development of a body of theory that can assist in the development of such a facilitatory programme, 2) The development of a diagnostic battery to provide insight into the individual's level of conceptual development, 3) The realization of certain guidelines for an instructional procedure whereby facilitation of growth can begin . The experiment takes the form of a pilot study of twenty four black and white subjects, exploring whether the battery of Piagetian tasks reveals a profile of conceptual development of the individual. Unique conceptual profiles were realized for all individuals, with evidence pointing towards the existence of a relationship between functional interests and the more advanced areas of the individual's conceptual development.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1981
A preliminary validity study of the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule with a sample of the South African university population
- Authors: Dares, Anna Ewa
- Date: 1981
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:21178 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6771
- Description: The study investigated the validity of the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (RAS) with a sample (N=l68) of the white South African undergraduate students. In terms of criterion- related validity, results indicated that ratings of external judges, unaware of their subjects' self-evaluation, correlated significantly with the assertiveness scores of the male subjects only. Construct validation of the RAS with ten personality traits measured by the Howarth Personality Questionnaire yielded results consistent with Wolpe's hypothesis that assertiveness relates inversely to anxiety. In addition, evidence was found to support the contention that assertiveness correlates negatively with inferiority. A principal components analysis of the RAS revealed a potentially useful factor structure for both males and females. A number of factors including situation-specific assertive behavior as well as factors measuring aggressiveness were identified for both sexes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1981
- Authors: Dares, Anna Ewa
- Date: 1981
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:21178 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6771
- Description: The study investigated the validity of the Rathus Assertiveness Schedule (RAS) with a sample (N=l68) of the white South African undergraduate students. In terms of criterion- related validity, results indicated that ratings of external judges, unaware of their subjects' self-evaluation, correlated significantly with the assertiveness scores of the male subjects only. Construct validation of the RAS with ten personality traits measured by the Howarth Personality Questionnaire yielded results consistent with Wolpe's hypothesis that assertiveness relates inversely to anxiety. In addition, evidence was found to support the contention that assertiveness correlates negatively with inferiority. A principal components analysis of the RAS revealed a potentially useful factor structure for both males and females. A number of factors including situation-specific assertive behavior as well as factors measuring aggressiveness were identified for both sexes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1981
Schizophrenia and mysticism: a conceptual analysis
- Authors: Hammond, Carol Anne
- Date: 1981
- Subjects: Schizophrenia , Mysticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3129 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006348 , Schizophrenia , Mysticism
- Description: From introduction: The aim of this thesis is to explore the "queer relationship'" existing between mysticism and madness as it emerges from psychological writings and to examine and re-evaluate the life of Joan of Arc in terms of the conceptual framework that emerges.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1981
- Authors: Hammond, Carol Anne
- Date: 1981
- Subjects: Schizophrenia , Mysticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3129 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1006348 , Schizophrenia , Mysticism
- Description: From introduction: The aim of this thesis is to explore the "queer relationship'" existing between mysticism and madness as it emerges from psychological writings and to examine and re-evaluate the life of Joan of Arc in terms of the conceptual framework that emerges.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1981
The elements of job evaluation in the development of a pay structural comparison system guide to conducting compensation surveys to determine competitive adjustments to base salary ranges
- Authors: Snelgar, Robin John
- Date: 1981
- Subjects: Wage surveys , Job evaluation , Job analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3118 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004726
- Description: If the wage policy of an organisation is to remain competitive in the labour market, that is, pay rates that are at least approximately equal to those prevailing in the community, then it must collect accurate wage and salary data in order to alter its pay structure as may become necessary. Wage and salary survey information provides a means by which management can determine whether its entire wage level is in accordance with that of the external labour market, and thus it is absolutely essential that methods and techniques utilised to collect such information are as objective and accurate as possible. The vital factor which has been revealed by the utilisation of many existing wage and salary survey guides is that the unavoidable subjectivity involved in the basic techniques utilised in survey procedures tends to have a cumulative effect on both data collection and analysis, and ultimately interpretation. As each technique is utilised, whether it be to obtain job comparability or to adjust salary data, the overall level of subjectivity is increased, which results in a cumulative increase in the margin of error involved in data collection. This study has been aimed at developing and practically testing a comprehensive guide to conducting wage and salary surveys which effectively minimises and, over successive surveys, eradicates the necessity for these subjective techniques. Due to the fact that the elements of job evaluation, namely, job analysis, job description, job specification and the job evaluation plan itself, form the nucleus of the techniques utilised for the data gathering and analysis process, the initial study was aimed at developing a job evaluation process which would be as objective as possible. In the development of such a system a range of job evaluation plans were tested for comparability in rating of jobs, the hypothesis being that any evaluation method or plan, when correctly applied to a series of jobs, will result in the same classification. This study intercorrelated rates derived for twenty-four key jobs selected from one particular organisation, using the job evaluation methods utilised by sixteen different organisations, and found that these rates intercorrelated between 0,93 to 0,99. These intercorrelations indicate a high degree of commonality among the sixteen methods; thus providing a justification for the utilisation of one particular job evaluation plan for the adjustment and weighing of wage and salary data in the survey data analysis procedure. To further justify the utilisation of one particular method, and thereby increase probability of acceptance by participating organisations, the independence of the sub-factors of the selected plan were tested by intercorrelating the factor scores for two job samples, one consisting of sixty jobs, type and level being heterogeneous, the other consisting of forty jobs, type and level being homogeneous. Sub-factor intercorrelations in the group of heterogeneous jobs ranged from 0,71 to 0,98 while all but one correlated at or above 0,90 with the total score, thus emphasising the independence of sub-factors, while intercorrelations in the group of homogeneous sample were much lower, ranging from 0,26 to 0,89, indicating greater factorial independence due to the fact that these jobs are limited to a narrower range of grades such that specific job differences in respect of sub-factors are more likely to show up. Utilising this selected job evaluation plan as the core of the developed job evaluation process, a wage and salary survey guide was formulated, the unique concept being a comparison of participating organisation pay structures rather than comparison of positions as a basis for data collection. The job evaluation system was utilised in the formulation of a "one-time" standardisation of participating organisation pay structures according to the survey organisation pay structure, the hypothesis being that these standardised pay structures may be utilised over successive surveys without the necessity for restandardisation, and thus eliminating the use of subjective methods and techniques subsequent to the initial standardisation. Utilising an international oil company as the survey organisation this newly formulated structural comparison guide was practically tested by applying it in conjunction with the existing survey organisation wage and salary survey guide as a means of competitive market wage and salary data gathering and analysis, over successive survey years, namely, 1974, 1977, and 1980. The results obtained through application of this guide were subsequently compared with those results obtained by two professional survey organisations, and proved to be reliable and consistent enough over the applicable survey years to warrant acceptance of the pay structural comparison concept as a valid wage and salary survey technique.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1981
- Authors: Snelgar, Robin John
- Date: 1981
- Subjects: Wage surveys , Job evaluation , Job analysis
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:3118 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004726
- Description: If the wage policy of an organisation is to remain competitive in the labour market, that is, pay rates that are at least approximately equal to those prevailing in the community, then it must collect accurate wage and salary data in order to alter its pay structure as may become necessary. Wage and salary survey information provides a means by which management can determine whether its entire wage level is in accordance with that of the external labour market, and thus it is absolutely essential that methods and techniques utilised to collect such information are as objective and accurate as possible. The vital factor which has been revealed by the utilisation of many existing wage and salary survey guides is that the unavoidable subjectivity involved in the basic techniques utilised in survey procedures tends to have a cumulative effect on both data collection and analysis, and ultimately interpretation. As each technique is utilised, whether it be to obtain job comparability or to adjust salary data, the overall level of subjectivity is increased, which results in a cumulative increase in the margin of error involved in data collection. This study has been aimed at developing and practically testing a comprehensive guide to conducting wage and salary surveys which effectively minimises and, over successive surveys, eradicates the necessity for these subjective techniques. Due to the fact that the elements of job evaluation, namely, job analysis, job description, job specification and the job evaluation plan itself, form the nucleus of the techniques utilised for the data gathering and analysis process, the initial study was aimed at developing a job evaluation process which would be as objective as possible. In the development of such a system a range of job evaluation plans were tested for comparability in rating of jobs, the hypothesis being that any evaluation method or plan, when correctly applied to a series of jobs, will result in the same classification. This study intercorrelated rates derived for twenty-four key jobs selected from one particular organisation, using the job evaluation methods utilised by sixteen different organisations, and found that these rates intercorrelated between 0,93 to 0,99. These intercorrelations indicate a high degree of commonality among the sixteen methods; thus providing a justification for the utilisation of one particular job evaluation plan for the adjustment and weighing of wage and salary data in the survey data analysis procedure. To further justify the utilisation of one particular method, and thereby increase probability of acceptance by participating organisations, the independence of the sub-factors of the selected plan were tested by intercorrelating the factor scores for two job samples, one consisting of sixty jobs, type and level being heterogeneous, the other consisting of forty jobs, type and level being homogeneous. Sub-factor intercorrelations in the group of heterogeneous jobs ranged from 0,71 to 0,98 while all but one correlated at or above 0,90 with the total score, thus emphasising the independence of sub-factors, while intercorrelations in the group of homogeneous sample were much lower, ranging from 0,26 to 0,89, indicating greater factorial independence due to the fact that these jobs are limited to a narrower range of grades such that specific job differences in respect of sub-factors are more likely to show up. Utilising this selected job evaluation plan as the core of the developed job evaluation process, a wage and salary survey guide was formulated, the unique concept being a comparison of participating organisation pay structures rather than comparison of positions as a basis for data collection. The job evaluation system was utilised in the formulation of a "one-time" standardisation of participating organisation pay structures according to the survey organisation pay structure, the hypothesis being that these standardised pay structures may be utilised over successive surveys without the necessity for restandardisation, and thus eliminating the use of subjective methods and techniques subsequent to the initial standardisation. Utilising an international oil company as the survey organisation this newly formulated structural comparison guide was practically tested by applying it in conjunction with the existing survey organisation wage and salary survey guide as a means of competitive market wage and salary data gathering and analysis, over successive survey years, namely, 1974, 1977, and 1980. The results obtained through application of this guide were subsequently compared with those results obtained by two professional survey organisations, and proved to be reliable and consistent enough over the applicable survey years to warrant acceptance of the pay structural comparison concept as a valid wage and salary survey technique.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 1981
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